CREWS TAKING CARE OF EMERGENCIES IN JACKSON

JACKSON -- Beginning at the end of January, an ambulance crew will be stationed at the Jackson Fire Department an extra 1 1/2 hours weekdays, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. The move is part of a dramatic increase in the level of emergency care available in the city in the past two years.

In that period, Cape Girardeau County Private Ambulance Service began consistently stationing an ambulance in Jackson during the peak hours for calls, and the city committed to train its firefighters as first responders.

Weekdays at 9 a.m., an ambulance arrives at the Jackson Fire Department and remains until 5:30 p.m. -- soon to be 7 p.m. -- for its base on North Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau. The ambulance arrives at 9 a.m. and leaves at 7 p.m. on weekends.

Cape County Private Ambulance Service has seven ambulances, with four doing front-line duty each day. Two crews work 24-hour shifts, sleeping at the headquarters on North Kingshighway. Two more crews are on duty during the high-volume hours of 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The ambulance service began stationing a crew in Jackson on a more consistent basis two years ago.

"Jackson's call demand rose the last couple of years," explains Chuck Groshong, operations manager for Cape County Private Ambulance Service. "We did it to cut response times."

Having an ambulance in Jackson as many hours as possible not only serves the city but outlying areas such as Millersville.

Last year, the Cape County Private Ambulance service began staging its ambulance at the Jackson Fire Station. Previously the ambulance awaited calls at City Park or at one of the Rhodes 101 stations. "That gives them an opportunity to do their reports here and for our emergency medical technicians and their crews to interface," says Jackson Fire Chief Brad Golden.

The ambulance's departure means it will take longer during those midnight hours to respond to an emergency in western Cape Girardeau County. That's one reason the Jackson Fire Department began training its firefighters as emergency medical technicians and established a first responder program.

The lack of ambulance coverage has been a concern in Jackson.

"There was concern enough where the board made the commitment to turn the fire department into a fire and rescue department," Jackson City Administrator Steve Wilson says. The last fire truck the city bought was set up to handle emergency medical calls.

Firefighters can do an initial assessment and provide care that includes heart defibrillation until the ambulance crew arrives. In most circumstances, the ambulance will include a paramedic who can administer cardiac drugs and medication.

Eight full-time firefighters and six volunteer firefighters have been certified as EMTs. Two are paramedics as well.

Golden is both a paramedic and a registered nurse.

"We are ahead of the game," Wilson says.

First responders and improvements in communication have strengthened the emergency response provided to the community. Having first responders means a child who has fallen off a bicycle and a baby sitter who doesn't know what to do about his skinned knee doesn't require an ambulance. In addition, the emergency medical dispatcher at the ambulance headquarters can give a 911 caller instructions on administering CPR and bleeding control. "We have talked them through live births," Groshong says.

As much as the situation has improved in Jackson, it is not perfect.

"We are in contact with them and they know we would like to have an ambulance stationed here 24 hours a day," Wilson says. "But manpower and equipment concerns mean it is not in the cards right now."

The ambulance service distributes its crews according to the historical run demand. If you just look at dots on a map instead of considering city boundaries, 10 to 15 times more calls come from the Cape Girardeau area than from Jackson between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m., Groshong says.

But, he adds, "every number is a person."

Questions about how to distribute resources are the most difficult he has to answer, Groshong says. "We're constantly reassessing."

Cape Girardeau County has set response time criteria requiring the ambulance service to respond to 90 percent of any emergency in the county within 10 minutes. Groshong says his crews operate at above that level.

The ambulance service must cover an area of 577 square miles, no more than most ambulance services in predominantly agricultural areas of the state. But with a population nearing 70,000, Cape Girardeau has more density than the norm, Groshong says.

Crews can't get to places like Delta or Old Appleton that quickly during certain hours of the night. "We have to do the best for the greatest number of people," Groshong says.